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Episode Recap: Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 3: "Oathbreaker"

Yes, Jon Snow lives. We’ve known that since last week. And he’s not a mindless zombie like Catelyn Stark was in the books—this one’s a living, breathing, proper Jon Snow.

The Tarlys were shown, but very briefly, on a long sea voyage to Oldtown and Horn Hill, which we are excited to see in the coming episodes.

Let’s move on to the highlight of this episode: The best sword fight I have ever seen onscreen. The fight is between Ser Arthur Dayne, a.k.a. The Sword of the Morning, and at least four of Ned Stark’s men. And Dayne would’ve won, were it not for the treacherous stab in the back from Howland Reed, father of the Reed siblings who helped Bran Stark escape from Winterfell. But apart from the awesome two-handed swordsmanship of Arthur Dayne, what’s really interesting is we almost get to see who Lyanna Stark’s baby really is.

HBO

Two-handed sword fighting for the win.

Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen returns to Vaes Dothrak, the spectacular Dothraki capital city. I’m still a bit skeptical though, as to the necessity of having a capital city for a foraging nomadic tribe. And granted if they do need a capital city, shouldn’t it be composed of more temporary structures, like maybe bigger and more sprawling tents? I don’t think the nomadic Mongols had a city of their own, though I might of course be mistaken. However, the Mother of Dragons should’ve had a snappy comeback to the high priestess of the dosh khaleen:

HP: You were the wife of the Great Khal. You thought he would conquer the world with you at his side.
DT: No, bitch. I would have conquered the world with him at my side.

The Varys-Tyrion tandem is quite fun to watch, but I would’ve liked to see them moving up and about, rather than just staying put in Meereen. Their witty banter is too good to be confined inside stone walls. All they did here was talk. Well, a wise man once said that the true history of the world is a history of great conversations in elegant rooms. That wise man was Tyrion Lannister. Just now.

HBO

"Whut?"

Speaking of Lannisters, on the other side of the sea in King’s Landing, the twins Cersei and Jaime are still plotting their way back to the top. But they soon find out that the small council is beginning to stand up to the lions, which is probably a good thing, seeing that the presence of Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane hasn’t struck fear in their hearts. The young king Tommen Lannister is likewise starting to develop his own muscle, and by “muscle” I mean his brain. With the High Sparrow’s words of wisdom, he starts to think for himself, after having lived all this time as his mother’s puppet.

Arya Stark has her eyesight back. Hooray. No more creepy milky-white eyeballs and beggar beatings. But I want to see some face-changing. Jaqen H’ghar hasn’t given her any face-changing powers yet. Hopefully next episode.

And while we’re on the subject of the Starks, there’s some development in Winterfell, and it isn’t good. The northern alliances are being strengthened, and Roose “The Douchebag” Bolton is getting closer to solidifying his claim over the north with the capture of Osha and Rickon Stark. With the beheading of Rickon’s direwolf Shaggydog, I guess everyone can’t wait for winter to come.

And for the finale, Jon Snow ends his watch in Castle Black with his own mic drop—or in this case, a body drop. With the hanging of Ser Alliser Thorne et al., a.k.a. “the betrayers of Lord Commander Snow”, Jon Snow channels his inner Eddard and his unflinching delivery of justice to all those who plunged their knives inside him. The question on everyone’s mind is: Where the hell is he going to go after this?